Fires of Pompeii
by Vuk Misic
Summary: When Titus sees Rome is tired of the constant power struggles, he sends him and his family of to Pompeii, a summer resort town currently celebrating the Vinalia. Rome thinks it would be a great excuse to spend some time with his sons, who are more often fighting each other than having fun.
1. Chapter 1

Augusta 18th, A.D. 79:

Ten miles outside of Pompeii.

Romulus was glad for the day off. His job as the personification of the Roman Empire was tiresome, and despite his usual attitude at home and the many benefits that came along with it, he was overjoyed to hear that his new boss, Emperor Titus, had 'ordered' him to spend the Vinalia Rustica with his friends and family.

So now he was on his way to Pompeii, where he had a summer villa, which in all honesty was rarely used due to his often heavy and demanding work schedule. At least he had his sons with him. Smiling, he glanced around the carriage they were riding in. Across from him, Antonio, João and Francis were sound asleep, leaning against one another and rocking along with the carriage. To their right, up against the window, Vladmir leaned against the side of the carriage, his fangs showing everytime he smiled from his dream.

Poor boy, Romulus worried he'd be an outcast all his life, and it's because of those fangs.

Romulus looked at his sides. The twins were asleep on either side of him, their curls bobbing as the carriage moved along the road. Feliciano slept peacefully, cuddling up to Rome's side. He didn't really like leaving Rome, except when it involved Romano.

Lovino, the other twin, lay against the wall of the carriage, opposite from Vladmir. The dark haired twin loved when they visited Pompeii, and the Campania was his favorite part of the lands he made up. Romulus could tell that the announcement of their visit to Pompeii had taken a happy toll on Lovino, and the kid had notably been much nicer and kinder to people over the last few days.

He thanked the gods silently for his boss's 'generosity'.

Lovino woke to the loud sounds of shouting and yelling. He glanced out the fenced windows of the carriage to see the monuments and shrines lining the road, and even more people carrying bags and parcels, carts laden with wine and grapes, all headed to one place:

"Pompeii!" He shouted, voice in a light voice heavy with a southern Italian accent. "We're here! We're here!"

"Lovi, please, get back inside." Romulus pleaded, seeing the boy leaning out the door like he was about to jump out the carriage.

"But grandpa, we're here, we're at Pompeii!"

"I know, but there's a lot of people outside, and I don't want you getting hurt or lost." Rome counter-argued. Lovino shrunk back into his seat, scowling that he was so close to his 'home' yet couldn't even get out to it yet. "Let's get to the villa first please, then you can go run around and have fun."

Lovino, however, just leaned up against the wall by the door, catching glimpses of the city as they approached the gates.

Four Auxiliary guards stood watch at the gate, checking bags and people before letting them into the city. The Auxiliary stopped their carriage, asking for travel papers, which Romulus handed him, a scroll of paper signed by Titus himself.

The guard saluted him, and let them pass. Once inside the city, Lovino felt at home. The plastered brick homes and shops with their red tiled roofs and balconies lined the stone roads, overflowing with shopkeepers and citizens, milling about in the markets.

They passed into the forum, where the majestic temple of Apollo stood, sunlight gleaming golden off the statutes on its roof.

Continuing, the baths and theaters were passed, and the arena gleamed in the distance. And up on a hill, overlooking the brilliantly blue Mediterranean: a massive villa stood, it's grounds surrounded by a cast iron fence that outlined vineyards and fields... all owned by Romulus.

They were home.

The guards outside the gate awaited their arrival.

"Ave! Welcome to your villa Magister Romulus, young magisters Francis, Antonio, Joao, Vladmir, Lovino & Feliciano. You must be tired, allow me and the other guards to carry your luggage."

"Thank you, Quintus, you're too kind." Romulus replied, walking past the guards and leading the kids into the large courtyard, the alabaster colored walls gleaming in the mid morning sunlight, red tiles glowing almost orange. Francis and and Antonio smiled, smelling delicious foods from the kitchens, running over each other in attempt to get to the food. Vladmir disappeared, walking off somewhere, probably to explore the villa, as it was his first time at pompeii.

Joao was chasing a dog that the guards kept while the guards laughed at the antics. One asked how old he was and Joao proudly and defiantly replied:

"I'm a nation. I'm older than you'd possibly imagine."

"Oh really? What nation are you?" The guard, Flavium, replied in a fatherly voice, tickling the teen nation till he laughed.

"I'm the great Lusitania! I may be a province now, but one day I'll be an empire like Romulus!"

"Oh please, Lusitania. It will be I; the great Hispania, that will be Rome's legacy." Antonio called over his twin sibling. Francis smiled.

"Oh please, it will me moi, the Gallic lands that will be the legacy of Rome."

"Where is Dacia?..." Romulus wondered, drowning out the bickering of his sons as white noise. He scanned the courtyard, before spotting the lone son sitting on a shaded balcony, watching the events.

"Silentium Gaul, your mother surrendered so fast your heads still spinning." Joao yelled.

Antonio stopped arguing as he felt something was about to happen.

"Brothers...?"

"Shut it Lusi! You're a shadow of Rome!"

"Guys...?"

"Gaul, you have no room to talk, your people are soft and enjoy the wine too much to risk fighting."

"Silencio!" Antonio yelled, causing Romulus to turn towards them. He looked at the Spaniard, who was standing aggravated and enraged, a red aura surrounding him, then soon subsided back to his usual self. "Won't you pay attention for one second...?"

Suddenly, the ground shook a little, and somewhere in the villa, a pot or vase broke.

"Quintus! What was that?" Romulus asked. The guard walked to the groups side.

"The mountain," he shrugged towards the lone standing mountain, Vesuvius, "it grumbles from time to time."

"How long has it been going on?"

"Since the great quake in 62 AD. Leveled a lot of the older buildings, but the city rebuilt, and we're booming for the vinalia."

"Have the quakes gotten more frequent or just occasional?"

"Magister, you have nothing to worry about. There's wine, women, and war games for the festival. Enjoy your stay here." Quintus answered. Romulus sighed, still worried slightly, but letting it go when he saw Francis and Joao wrestling each other, Antonio pulling Lovino and Feliciano away from the fighting.

"I don't think I need an arena for war games..."


	2. Chapter 2

Augusta 18th, A.D. 79

Villa Campanium, just outside Pompeii

Later in the evening.

Feliciano watched as his brother scrambled around their room. The bedroom was modest, a medium sized room on the south side of the villa, overlooking the city, but had a view of the atrium where Vesuvius loomed over them, it's great shadow smothering them. Thankfully, the villa was illuminated by the lights of thousands of oil lamps and candles, and the silence of the countryside was broken by the sounds of a party.

"Ve… Fratello, what are you doing?" Feliciano questioned, sitting on the soft, comfortable bed, eyes following the dark haired twin as he ran from the wardrobe to the bed, then to the private dressing room, and back to the wardrobe.

"I'm trying to find my belt basta… fratello. Antonio's old clothes are still too big on me. The tunic is too loose and my _bulla_ gets lost in the excess."

Feliciano stood, his tunic fitting him perfectly. The only reason was that he was smaller than Lovino was, and thus had inherited one of Vlad's, who was the shortest of all the older brothers. Lovino thus received his old tunics from Antonio, as insisted by Romulus, who began reusing old clothes after a military excursion to Valdona, where he spent time with some Aristocratic and prissy Germanic with glass panes in front of his eyes.

Romulus hated him.

"Here, let me help." Feliciano insisted, and immediately began to tie the purple knotted sash around the richly sewn fabric of the tunic. Next, he smoothed the wrinkles, allowing the _bulla_ and the other necklaces Lovino was wearing to be shown. He took a step back. His twin, though he was slightly taller, larger in size from field work, and darker skinned and haired due to his people's Carthaginian ancestry, was dressed in a white and purple tunic, with a thin sash of purple around the waist. The sleeves and edges had a bit of Spanish celtic knotting, but those had faded into the white, making them look more attuned to the tunic. "There you go. Ve… now can we go. I think Grandpa is waiting."

"You could have gone at any point. There was no need to wait."

"But fratello, I wanted to. After all, Grandpa choose this place for you." Feli called from the doorway.

"Wait what…?"

"He said something about a ceremony for us, and that he wanted it to be at your favorite place." and a second later he was gone.

"What ceremony?!"

"Magistrate Corvus, a pleasure to have you here." Romulus greeted formally, shaking hands with a fair-haired Latin man with a saddened face. Though he wished he could relax and be carefree like he usually was, proper tradition dictated that he had to honor the magistrate of the city, and that meant that there was a party.

But that party was, by far, the most horrendously, absurdly, and obnoxiously, worst party in the history of roman parties. And he should know: he founded the Roman Party.

"Thank you for having us, it's not everyday the Roman Empire comes to your magistrate. It is truly an honor." Corvus bowed, along with his wife, a younger, beautiful black haired woman, probably Greek or Ionia, he guessed, due to the hair and green eyes. :This is my wife, Herakleia. She's the daughter of an esteemed Athenian nobleman, one who wished to intermarry into the highest of Roman standing."

"Forgive me sir, but Pompeii is now considered the highest of Roman standing?"

Corvus let out a small laugh.

"Ah...no, sadly for him, he fell short of finding a highborn Roman in Rome, but luckily for me, I was honored to be able to marry this wondrous and miraculous woman." he laid a kiss on his wife's hand, who blushed at the act of devotion. Rome could tell, though he'd never be able to have such a life experience: these two genuinely cared and loved one another.

He spotted Quintus in his armor standing over by some men, laughing and enjoying themselves.

Excellent excuse.

"If you'd excuse me sir, I must attend to something urgent. Perhaps we could discuss more over lunch." Romulus inquired, desperately trying to get away and be able to drop the formalities, and begin with the wine and women.

"More of what, sir?" Corvus asked, laughing whilst slightly confused.

"The Emperor is interested in remaking Pompeii. He wants more to flock to the heart of Il Imperium, get a taste of Roman livelihood, and eventually cast their eyes on Rome itself."

"Why... This is great news. Pompeii has always just been a summer resort, but this will put us on the imperial map."

"Yes, this is the main reason Titus sent me to Pompeii, his 'condition' for my choice to come here."

"Well he made a great choice. Our emperor is truly an inspired man."

"Now, if you'll excuse me." Romulus ended, Boeing slightly and then walking over to Quintus. "Are you enjoying yourself?"

"Why yes, my lord. Thank you for the night off."

"You deserved it. After all, you did leave your family early to make sure the villa was ready. So please, you deserve it."

"Would you like some wine?"

"Oh, yes please. I hate the formal was of these things. One day it will only be fun. No business or politics. Just. Fun."

"Well that'll be past my time. But surely, our eternal empire will live to see it."

"Yes... Eternal."

"Something the matter, lord?"

"Well, nothing is eternal. Babylon fell. Persia fell. Carthago fell. Gaul fell. And I fear one day... So will I."

"Don't say such things lord. You will last forever. Your legacy will be the envy of all nations. They will aspire to be like you."

"That's what worries me. I had a dream a few nights ago. It scared me, to be honest. I must see the Sybilline preistesses and ask what this means."

"Tommorrow my lord. Worry about it tommorow. For now, enjoy yourself. Yours sons are."

He gestures over to where Antonio, Francis, Joao and Vlad are lounging around a table, sipping wine and eating. Francis was staring at a beautiful young woman, and Romulus knew what the blond haired teen would be doing. Years ago, he could intervene, but Francis was an adult in the eyes of Roman law, able to wear a toga in public, and do as he pleased.

"Well at least someone else is enjoying the women." Romulus laughed, being handed a goblet of wine. Taking a sip, he decide to not hold back and just chugged the damn thing. "More please..."

The villa shook. Plaster dust falling from the roof and walls. Pottery and vases shattered in other rooms. And people held onto benches, statues, and moldings, trying not to fall over.

Then it subsided.

"Vulcan approves of the wine."


End file.
